The invention relates to a lollipop display device and a method of erecting the display device.
Lollipop display devices are utilized in retail stores for displaying lollipops. The display device can be formed of a paper (e.g., cardboard) blank that is erected along fold lines. Holes are punched in the blank through which the sticks of the lollipops can be inserted.
Display devices of that type are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,647,154 and 1,966,734. Those display devices, once erected, present an outer housing having one or more rows of upper holes formed in an upper portion of the housing, and a panel disposed inside of the outer housing and possessing lower holes that are spaced below, and in vertical alignment with, respective ones of the upper holes. The stick of each lollipop is inserted downwardly through a respective pair of the upper and lower holes to be supported in a vertical manner, with the confection portion of the lollipop exposed at the top of the display device.
While such display devices are effective, they possess certain drawbacks. For example, the need to provide an inside panel positioned such that the holes thereof are aligned with upper holes of the outer housing increases the cost of the display and complicates the erection procedure. Also, the need to insert each lollipop stick through two spaced-apart holes makes the lollipop insertion procedure more difficult and time consuming.
Although it is possible to erect the display device and insert the lollipops at the store where the lollipops are to be sold, it is common for those operations to be performed by the lollipop supplier who then wraps the lollipop-containing display devices in plastic shrink wrap prior to shipping. It will be appreciated that the shipping space occupied by a multitude of such filled display devices is considerable, adding to the shipping costs.
Another type of display device is depicted in FIG. 1 wherein the confection parts 2 of the lollipops 4 are laid into large slots 6 of the display device, and the sticks 7 are inserted into holes 8 so as to be inclined relative to vertical. While such a display device may facilitate the insertion of the lollipops, the other drawbacks described above are still present.